Author's Note: So am I correct in thinking I have only one reader? I only have one review right now, and I'm already 10 chapters in to this. It's a bit depressing, knowing no one is reading. OR MAYBE THERE ARE PEOPLE READING AND JUST NOT REVIEWING. Seriously guy(s), I like reviews. They boost my self-esteem and let me know I'm not writing for a non-existent audience. Be a doll and click that 'Submit Review' button at the bottom.
It was an unusual feeling, not having to wake up early to get to work on time. Hermione basked in the sunlight that shone through her bedroom window, enjoying the feel of not being rushed. She felt like she was always rushing to get somewhere or get something done. Not having to be somewhere at a specific time was a rare luxury.
When she woke just before noon, she owled a letter to the Ministry, informing them of her interest in the Department of Muggle Relations, and asking them for further information about applying. Almost two hours later, a Ministry owl appeared at her window, holding a very large white envelope in its beak.
It read,
Dear Miss Hermione Granger,
We sincerely appreciate your interest in the Head position for the Department of Muggle Relations. As you have no doubt been informed, this has been a most difficult position to fill since the unfortunate departure of Winslow Riegelwood.
We are delighted to hear you have much experience. I received an extraordinary letter of recommendation from Minerva McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Personally speaking, I trust Minerva's judgment of character.
Permitting, I have scheduled a meeting for you and I to go over your application and credentials for the 8th of January, at 11 in the morning. Please reply as soon as possible if you are unable to attend.
Also, if you will be in London on the 7th, it would be my honor to invite you to a Ministry gala to benefit the children of St. Mungo's. All proceeds will be given to charity in the hopes of finding cures for permanent maladies. I have enclosed a printed invitation if you'd like to attend. I will be there, and it would be lovely to meet you in an informal setting.
Looking forward to meeting you,
Orlinda Rawlins, Head of the Department of Ministry Employment.
Replying that the 8th of January would be a marvelous date, Hermione sent the Ministry owl off into the sky for its return flight. She worried about how she would get to London. Portkey tickets were expensive, and as she'd just spent the last of her free money on the Portkey ticket to London and Christmas presents for everyone, Hermione wasn't sure what to do. She was determined not to ask Harry or anyone else for help.
At around 3:30, she remembered Colin Creevey would be back in Edinburgh at 4. She Apparated to his apartment, letting herself in. She waited around for a while, looking at some of his new photographs on the walls, and finally at a quarter past Colin Apparated into the room.
"Surprise!" Hermione called, giving him a hug.
"Blimey, Hermione, you scared me!" Colin gasped, putting his luggage down. "How long have you been here?"
"Only a half hour. My apartment was starting to get very boring," Hermione sighed.
Colin narrowed his eyes, "Are you sick? Why aren't you at Hogwarts?"
Hermione looked away and mumbled quickly, "IquitmyjobandImightbemovingbacktoLondon."
"I'm sorry? What was that?" Colin said, hoping he hadn't heard her say what he thought he heard her say.
Hermione sighed again, sitting down on his couch, "Sit down, Colin, I've got lots to tell you."
"That's uncharacteristically impulsive of you, Hermione. You just decided to quit your job on the spot?" asked Colin, after Hermione had told him the events of yesterday. He was nibbling on the treacle tarts Hermione had brought with her, his feet tucked underneath him.
"I think subconsciously I always knew I was going to quit eventually," said Hermione thoughtfully, "But when I finally got up there are started talking, it just kind of happened, like something snapped inside my head. I realized I couldn't possibly be tucked away in Edinburgh for the rest of my life, when my heart, my friends, and my family were in London."
"When do you find out if you got the job?" asked Colin.
Hermione frowned, "Well, I've got a meeting with Orlinda Rawlins of the Employment office on the 8th of January. She sounded pleased about my interest in the position, so I hope it will go well."
"How are you getting to London? I'm going to be in London from the 4th to the 12th if you'd like to come with me," offered Colin, "I've got a professional shoot coming up for the Bulgarian team in London. They just won their last match against Spain so they've a closer shot of going to the Quidditch Cup in the summer. I might be shooting Ron's game in Cornwall too, if you want to stick around for that."
"Oh, I'd appreciate that, Colin!" thanked Hermione, "Are you going by Portkey?"
Colin shook his head, "Nah, I thought I'd drive my car up. I bought it for a reason and I never really use it, since I'm always traveling long distance. I thought a nice, scenic route to London would be lovely."
"It does sound lovely," Hermione agreed, "It's been a while since I've been in a car. Mum and dad are always trying to convince me to buy an automobile, but I haven't the money or the time for one."
"Oh, I forgot to thank you for the Christmas present! I've needed new camera lenses and the ones you bought were absolutely perfect!" Colin said, pecking Hermione's cheek.
"It was nothing, Colin," Hermione smiled, "And thanks for yours, as well! I can't believe I forgot to ask how the United States was. Was it fun?"
Colin grinned devilishly, "Oh, very. You wouldn't believe how eager those American girls are. They hear a British accent and go all sorts of crazy, just begging for a good shag."
Hermione thumped him on the arm, laughing, "Colin! You're such a little pervert."
"I prefer the term kinky. I experimented a lot over there," Colin replied smartly, "They've got so many weird, little toys…"
"Colin!" Hermione cried again.
"Don't knock it till you've tried it, Hermione," Colin sniggered.
Hermione looked away, blushing to the roots of her hair.
"C'mon, Hermione, I didn't mean it," Colin said, putting his arm around her. "Sex isn't all that great, anyways."
"According to everyone else it is," replied Hermione, "But I don't really mind. It'll happen eventually."
Colin chuckled, "Sometimes I swear you're an 80-year old woman. No one has quite the same mindset as you do."
The following days passed slowly for Hermione. Each morning she awoke at whatever hour she pleased, spent some time reading, and then spent the rest of the day with Colin. Padma was almost always working, and when she wasn't she was spending her time with William. She stayed at his place overnight once during the week, as a "test run."
Padma brought William over for dinner one night so Hermione could meet him at last, and Hermione approved. William cooked dinner and was a fantastic cook, as well. He was polite, intelligent, handsome, and the perfect match for Padma. Hermione felt like this relationship would last for a long time, if not forever.
Her days with Colin were filled with frivolity and carelessness. Colin had the effect on Hermione which made her forget her worries and feel like a child. They played in the park down the street from Hermione's apartment, went to lunch at the Corner Café, and enjoyed doing Muggle things. It had been years since either Colin or Hermione had been to a cinema, and they decided it was time to go.
Hermione was getting increasingly nervous about applying to the Ministry. She had no idea what credentials, referrals, or experience she would need in order to get the job. She studied up on the Department of Muggle Relations to no avail. The Ministry pamphlet had very little to say on that particular department, choosing instead to go into detail on the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and the Department of International Magical Cooperation, of which Percy Weasley was now the Head.
Another of which Hermione was completely dubious was why she was being referred for the Head of a department. Surely someone with more experience and working years should have the honor of becoming Head of the department? She had the slight notion that perhaps no one else was given the Head job because there weren't very many people working for or interested in the Department of Muggle Relations. She sincerely hoped this wasn't the case.
"Is this all you're bringing?" Colin asked her, putting the last of his bags into the trunk of his green car.
Hermione looked down at the two bags at her feet, frowning, "This should be enough, shouldn't it? I only need a few simple outfits, a professional looking outfit for my interview, and a fancy set of dress robes for the Gala."
"If you say so," said Colin, lifting her bags in to the car and finally closing the trunk behind them. "All set? You've said good-bye to Padma and all that?"
Hermione nodded, "She's going to stay at William's all this week."
"Getting pretty serious, eh?" said Colin, his brows furrowing, "Are you sure this guy is legit? I'd hate for Padma to get herself infatuated with a bad news bear."
"She'll be fine," Hermione snorted, "I didn't know you were so sensitive, Colin."
"I'm not!" Colin exclaimed, affronted, "Now get in the car before I throw you in there myself."
Hermione had conveniently neglected to tell Harry, Ron, or Ginny that she was coming to London for a week, hoping to surprise them.
The drive to London was pleasant and enjoyable. Hermione and Colin took turns driving and enjoying the scenery. They stopped at the seaside and took pictures while enjoying chips. Colin's Polaroid printed moving pictures, and he gave many of them to Hermione as keepsakes.
They arrived in London a little past 11 at night, and Hermione was snoozing in the passenger's seat. Being the deep sleeper that she was, Colin had to scream and throttle her to wake her up. He dropped her in front of Ginny's townhouse, they hugged good-bye and Hermione went inside.
Hermione crept up the stairs when she saw that Ginny was not in the kitchen or the sitting room, and tip-toed to Ginny's bedroom. The door was slightly ajar and there was a creaking noise, which Hermione assumed was the sound of her feet on the wooden floor. Holding her breath, she jumped through the doorway and yelled out, "Surprise!"
Surprise indeed. She hadn't expected to see Harry and Ginny completely naked, going at it full speed. Harry pulled out of Ginny like whiplash and covered himself with the comforter, horrified. Ginny gasped and fell out of bed, frantically searching for any piece of clothing.
Hermione gaped at them, "I'm so sorry! Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry!" She ran out of the room down into the kitchen, wanting to die from embarrassment. She couldn't believe she had just witnessed two of her best friends going at it. Hermione, the very poster-child for prudery, had always had the illusions of people waiting until marriage or at the very least locking their doors when they were having intercourse. She knew, of course, that neither Harry nor Ginny were virgins before tonight, that they had enjoyed sexual intercourse plenty of times before tonight, but she couldn't believe she had actually walked in on them.
Ten minutes later Ginny came downstairs, her hair disheveled, wearing a large button down shirt and a pair of shorts. Clearly the shirt belonged to Harry. She was red in the face and couldn't quite figure out what to say, as her mouth kept opening and closing every few seconds.
"This is awkward," she finally noted, still blushing and looking at the floor.
Hermione calmed herself. "Don't be embarrassed, Ginny. You and Harry are engaged and have every right to have sex whenever you like."
"No, not that. I mean, you've never … this is the first time you've … seen …" Ginny trailed off hopelessly.
Hermione reddened. "Oh. Yes. Well, it had to happen some time."
Ginny smiled wryly at Hermione, "You have a peculiar way of thinking, Hermione."
There was another awkward silence in which Ginny played with the end of her shirt. Finally she asked, "What are you doing here, anyhow?"
"Oh, right," Hermione said, coming out of her reverie, "I don't know if you know but I'm applying for a job at the Ministry. I have an interview on the 8th and a gala on the 7th. Colin drove me up."
"Yes, I remember Harry telling me. I was so surprised," said Ginny, "And you have a gala?"
"It's a benefit for St. Mungo's," explained Hermione, "It's supposedly a very fancy affair. I thought I'd wear the robes Malfoy bought me."
"I'm sorry?" Ginny stopped, "That who bought you?"
"I ran into Draco Malfoy at the Ministry when I was here last. By complete freak accident, he ripped the seems of my new dress robes from Madam Malkin's. He was decent enough to offer to replace them from Gladrags."
"You ran into Malfoy!" exclaimed Ginny, "And you didn't even tell me! And he bought you robes from Gladrags – you know how expensive that place is?"
Hermione nodded, "I did feel a little bad, but he really doesn't have any regard for money. He lives such a decadent lifestyle."
"Can I see the robes?" Ginny asked shyly.
Hermione went to fetch the box with her new robes in them from the hallway. In all honesty, Hermione hadn't even had time to have a good look at them. All she knew was that they were coral pink.
"Oh it's beautiful!" Ginny cried, "I can't believe Malfoy picked these out, he's got some good taste. This will look gorgeous on you. And what's that! Is that a Muggle dress?"
Ginny pulled out the correlating Muggle dress. It was knee-length and had a flowing skirt with a dark pink ribbon around the waist. It had thick straps that covered up until her shoulder, and had far too plunging a neckline for Hermione's tastes.
"You know what I think?" Ginny asked, "I think Malfoy is bloody brilliant for buying this. You had to wear it to that Gala, forget about the robes! You can just claim you wore a Muggle dress because you're excited to apply for a Muggle-related job. Clever, eh?"
"Look at this neckline!" Hermione protested.
Ginny looked at it sideways, skeptical. The neckline went deep enough to expose the sternum. "Oh, I see! It's magicked! Look at the seems here; it's magicked so it'll stay sticking to your skin. This way you'll never accidentally…slip out."
Hermione blushed. "So it's not too risqué?"
Ginny smiled at her, a glint in her eye. "Of course not! You'll make every man's jaw drop. And I have the perfect shoes for you."
"Thanks, Gin," said Hermione, "Where's Harry?"
Ginny rolled her eyes, "He's too chicken to come downstairs. I kept telling him you didn't see his willy but he's still too embarrassed to come down. You probably won't see him until tomorrow morning, and even then he'll be completely awkward. You know how modest he is."
Ginny settled Hermione in to a guestroom on the first floor, and after assuring her she wasn't intruding, Ginny returned to Harry upstairs. It could have been her imagination, but Hermione could have sworn she heard more creaking and the occasional moan elicit from upstairs. Blushing deeply again, Hermione turned on her side and attempted to sleep.